A Christmas Carol
by Chocolate-Flavored Strawberry
Summary: One-Shot - A Christmas Carol with a GA twist. Natsume finds himself visited by three ghosts in his most hated time of the year.


**A Christmas Carol**

**One-Shot**

Natsume was a smart man. He was prominent and wealthy and had everything he could ever wish for. He led the elementary division of the prestige Alice Academy as the successor of the one before him. Although that may be so, that he was appointed personally, he chose to block out everything that had happened before the last moments of his predecessor, and because of that his once thoughtful demeanor turned bitter. He became angry and cold and distanced himself from all who came close - even his best friend, Ruka.

"Natsume, come to our Christmas party tomorrow. I know - I know you miss her, I do too, but please, stop punishing yourself. It wasn't your fault." Ruka pleaded.

Natsume, however, continued to disregard the pleas of his friend. He stared out the window of his office. It was snowing. Just like that time when they were ten at the Masquerade Ball. It was painful for him to remember the time when everything seemed normal. When everybody was happy. And even though he was treated as a slave by the previous elementary school principal, every time he saw her smile, all that feeling of fatigue and tiredness simply evaporated. Things hadn't been ever the same since the incident five years ago.

_"Natsume!"_

He closed his eyes shut as her screams echoed in his mind. Her eyes filled with fear, and her lips quivering as the black light enveloped her. He couldn't protect her because he was weak. He was pathetic and a coward. He promised her that he would do everything to keep her safe yet where was she now?

"Papa..." He heard.

He saw his daughter standing scared as she watched him reject yet another invitation to her Uncle's party. She was the last ray of light he had yet he couldn't find it in himself to look at her for too long because she looked exactly like her mother with long brown hair and her bright chestnut-colored eyes. The only thing she had gotten from him was his smile. A smile he hadn't seen in five years. A timid smile it was. Shy and conservative just like him. He knew Hana didn't like seeing her father in this state, or even actually seeing her father in general because she was so afraid of him.

"...Hana, go with Uncle. You can have a sleepover with Akihiko. I'll pick you up in the morning." He said.

Hana stared sadly at her father as Ruka took her hand and led her outside. "Natsume, she wouldn't have wanted this and you know it." Ruka said finally before leaving the room.

The snowflakes fell on the school grounds and a wave of melancholy washed over him. He cried. Ruka was right. She wouldn't have wanted this. God, he missed her. He missed her warm hugs and her delightfully gross cooking. He missed seeing her with Hana even though she was just a baby. He missed holding her hand and pulling her close. He missed watching fireworks with her and holding her as she cried during sappy romance movies. He missed her smell-a sweet mixture of tangerines and vanilla, and her kisses.

And although he loved her with all his heart, Hana was just a constant reminder that she was gone, and she was never coming back.

The sun set over the horizon and he found himself dozing off as his tears dried on his face.

...

"Natsume-kun." He heard a voice say.

He swore he knows that voice.

"Natsume-kun." His eyes opened slowly and he was greeted with red eyes just like his.

"Mom...?"

"Yup. Wake up." Kaoru said as she poked at him.

"How... how are you here?" He asked, believing it was just a trick of his mind.

"Don't worry about that. I'm just here to tell you one thing. Well, two actually... Hm, which one do you want to hear first?" She asked stroking her chin.

"Wha...?" He said confused.

"Okay, I'll tell you the first one," She said with a smile. Her smile suddenly turned dark and menacing as she said, "Expect to be visited by three ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Future. Past will come tomorrow at around noon, probably. He wasn't too clear about that if it was noon or midnight or three o'clock in the morning." She paused, trying to remember the times the ghosts would appear. "Um, noon, Natsume-kun, I'm sure of it. And the Ghost of Christmas Present will come the same time the day after then Christmas Future the day after that, the same time."

Natsume cocked his eyebrow. This must be some sort of illusion Ruka and the others pulled to try and persuade him to go with them and celebrate. He wasn't falling for it, this whole Charles Dickens bullshit.

"Okay." He said simply, not believing a word she said.

"You don't believe me." She said. "Okay, fine. Don't believe me. But don't come yelling 'Mommy!' when the Ghosts freak you out. They like to do that, you know."

Natsume remained quiet and spun his chair around looking outside his window. It was dark. Probably around two or three in the morning. He has to pick up Hana in a few hours.

"Natsume-kun," She said, coming closer and stroking his hair. "I know you miss us. But, you can't keep on punishing your daughter for events of the past she took no part in. We all love you very much. Please take care of yourself."

And then she vanished.

...

On December twenty-third, at precisely noon, the morning after Kaoru's visit, the Ghost of Christmas Past appeared in the form of someone familiar. Someone close to him. Ruka.

"Natsume."

"Hm?" He turned around and saw Ruka standing in front of his desk, holding a familiar white rabbit between his arms. But he looked different, much younger. Like when they were ten years old. "Did you eat your wife's age-modifying candy again?"

"Natsume, I am the Ghost of Christmas Past." He said simply as he took Natsume's wrist.

And in a flash, they were in a time flow, just like when the teachers tried to convince them to let Mikan run away together outside the academy with her mother. The thought made him flinch slightly but he continued to push all thoughts back.

"Ruka, where are you bringing me?" He asked.

The Ghost of Christmas Past ignored his inquiry and continued to drag him further and further down the time line with windows of scenes for the past five years. Then he stopped at window where it was raining. They went inside the window and instantly, Natsume remembered this particular time that happened not long before.

"It's our wedding day." He said, voice cracking.

The Ghost of Christmas Past stared at him stoically. It was raining hard but they didn't feel a thing. As if they weren't even there-just spectators from another world, which they were, but Natsume didn't seem to notice as he was to busy training his eyes on something.

Natsume clenched his fists as he saw her in her wedding dress while frantically panicking as she ran inside the city hall, trying to evade the drops of rain off her dress.

"We decided to just get married in the city hall because she thought it was a waste spending a lot of money for herself when she could have given it to others. She was near to tears that day because she thought rain was a bad omen to a marriage." He said, his expression softening.

"Ah, Hotaru, we're all wet now." She whined.

"Mikan, don't worry, okay? I really don't think Natsume would stop the wedding just because we got one or two drops of rain on us." Hotaru reasoned. The two of them quickly got inside the building with all their friends following (Youichi, Tsubasa, Misaki, Tonou, Narumi, Shiki, the high school principal, Sumire, Aoi, Natsume's father, Kokoro, Bear, and the rest).

"I told her beforehand to get there earlier because it was going to rain but she wouldn't listen." He said softly.

Natsume and the Ghost followed the group inside and immediately, they were surrounded by crowd but none of them seemed to notice they were even there. Everybody scrambled as the watched the ceremony taking place in the cramped up hall. Natsume, the younger, happier him, stood smiling in front of everyone barely paying attention to the minister's words, staring at his beautiful bride. Her dress was orange and it reached her knees. Her hair was slightly messed up by the humidity and the running but Natsume wouldn't have had her in any other way.

The minister finished the ceremony and then they kissed. Everybody cheered. They all went outside and Natsume (present) was about to follow them but the Ghost of Christmas Past stopped him and opened a window back to the time flow.

"Where are we going?" Natsume asked.

The Ghost ignored him again and led him to another window. They went inside and Natsume felt the heat of their surroundings immediately. It was June and Mikan was going into labor. They were going to go to the hospital but there just wasn't enough time so, just like her mother, Mikan gave birth at a loving home. Their home.

"We didn't really have a permanent address because we couldn't risk settling down in one place where _those bastards_," He spat. "could find us. So we often went to Mikan's grandpa whenever we could."

As Natsume finished his sentence, the wails of their new born baby echoed throughout the room.

"It's a girl!" Jii-chan exclaimed.

Mikan cried happily, "It's a girl! Natsume, we have a baby girl!" The younger Natsume smiled from ear to ear and took their baby from Jii-chan, careful not to drop her and gave her to Mikan, kissing the baby's forehead as he did so. Mikan hugged her baby tightly and kissed her forehead repeatedly. Back then, Hana had darker hair, much closer to Natsume's but it was as long as Mikan's.

"Natsume, look at her. She's so cute! We have a baby... We have a baby!" She exclaimed happily through her tears.

Past Natsume nodded, and kissed Mikan and cooed at their baby. The smiles on their faces was invaluable and Natsume knew that so he couldn't help but feel saddened by the fact that he could never smile like that ever again. Not without her.

The Ghost nudged Natsume and said, "This was the first time you'd ever smiled like that... The only time."

In the corner of the room, Hotaru smiled as she witnessed the welcoming of the third member of her best friend's family. Behind her was a little boy with blond hair, peeking behind her leg, watching the family.

The Ghost took Natsume's hand and again, they entered the time flow. As they walked closer and closer to the present, Natsume couldn't help but watch the windows of events that took place in his life. The first time Hana walked, the first time she spoke, the first time she and Akihiko played together. Then they stopped. Natsume knew this. He didn't want to go in. This was the lowest point he'd ever had in his life.

"I'm going!" Mikan exclaimed.

It was Christmas Eve. It was snowing heavily and the fog was thick. Hana was shivering in the corner of the room as her parents got into a heated debate.

"No, you're not." Past Natsume retorted.

"Yes, I am! Do you really think I would let you go out there alone? Do you think I would leave our children father-less?" She yelled.

By this time, Mikan was heavily pregnant with their second child. Hana was already about a year and a half years old and an organization of Anti-Alice protesters started attacking the small shed they were hiding at. Immediately, Natsume prepared to retaliate, but there was just too much that he had to go out to let his whole family escape safely. Mikan insisted on going out with him and Natsume knew it would be fruitless as she only had Alices that would hurt only those with Alices but these were ordinary people that thought Alices were unnatural and immoral. There was an uprising and even before they were married, they were hunted down though it was not so bad but everybody had to split up to keep safe.

"Then do you think _I_ would let my kids mother-less? Do you think I would let them have the opportunity to hurt you? Or our baby?" Past Natsume reasoned angrily.

At this point, Hana started crying loudly as she heard her parents fight and the screams of the people outside the shed.

"Please, Mikan... I'll come back, I promise. I'll be safe and then we'll go to Ruka and everybody and w'll be okay. Please stay here." He whispered.

Mikan subconsciously held onto her stomach where her seven-month old baby was sleeping and sighed.

"Okay..." She answered.

Past Natsume hugged her and kissed her. "We'll be okay, I promise."

Past Natsume got out of the shed and prepared his battle stance. Everywhere surrounding the shed was engulfed in flames, and in seconds everybody was dead. He huffed. It took a lot of his energy to perform the act and he was beginning to feel the heaviness in his body.

"Natsume!" He heard Mikan exclaim as he threw herself on him. Her belly was pressed against his back and he felt blood prickling on his fingers.

"Mikan!"

"No, no! No more. Take me back. Take me back!" Natsume yelled at the Ghost.

An arrow was shot through her back but Natsume knew it was no ordinary arrow. It was a work of a person with an Alice. Slowly, Mikan was enveloped in a black light. Past Natsume cradled her head and told her over and over again that Subaru and the others were coming as he cried.

"Ma..." He heard a tiny voice say from the shed.

"Hana, stay inside!" He yelled.

Hana, stubborn like her mother, continued to prod to her parents with a worried expression. "Ma! Mama!" She called out as she fell to the ground, crying. Past Natsume lay his head down and kissed Mikan one last time and ran to Hana and left. Whoever did this to her must still be around. Whoever killed Mikan was still around finding him and his daughter. Whoever did this... is a dead man.

"Take me back, Ghost! Please..." Natsume yelled, tears rolling down his face.

The Ghost finally took Natsume's wrist and returned him to the present. They were back in his office. And not one minute past noon since they left, but he felt they were gone for a lifetime. He felt agony and pain in his heart as he sunk low to the burgundy floor. It was something he didn't ever want to remember but still it haunted him to now.

As he sobbed, he felt the small hand of the Ghost pat his back, not saying anything.

"Natsume, she didn't regret a single thing." The Ghost said, before disappearing completely.

...

"Papa..." Hana said, shyly, hiding behind the door of her father's bedroom.

Natsume was deep surrounded by pictures of their past, before everything got so complicated. He looked up groggily to see Hana holding a stuffed rabbit Mikan had given her when she was a baby. _"In honor of Ruka-pyon!"_ she said before.

"...Papa, can I sleep next to you tonight?" She asked.

Natsume's eyes softened and he immediately cleaned up the pictures and piled them on nightstand. Hana crawled next to him and buried herself in his covers.

"Papa, tell me how you met Mama." She whispered, trying her best to keep from sleeping.

Natsume smiled and covered her shoulder with the blanket. "Well, when I was ten, I stole her underwear..."

Right next to him was a photo of Mikan, him, and Hana smiling brightly in front of Jii-chan's house.

...

The next day, in the middle of a meeting, at precisely noon, time stood still. The teachers he was speaking to suddenly paused and right next to him was Youichi, the older, teenage Youichi who was a senior in high school. Or whom he assumed was the Ghost of Christmas Present.

"Youichi?" He said. The Ghost glared an all too familiar glare at him. "Or Ghost?"

"Hyuuga, you've been very generous, but you are the most self-centered prick I've ever had to see in my lifespan." He said blatantly.

Natsume rolled his eyes and held out his wrist. "Just get it over with."

The Ghost smacked him on the back of his head. The moment his head jerk upright, they were in the quadrangle of the elementary division. There was a thin layer of snow covering the ground. Thick enough to make a snow angel but not too thick to need to shovel.

He grunted but decided to keep quiet and watch the children play with a basketball with their teacher. He couldn't help but notice two kids sitting on a bench, watching the other kids play. Hana and Akihiko. They were just sitting next to each other, doing nothing.

Hana had her nose buried in her scarf and her bonnet pushed her bangs to her eyes. She was timidly fiddling her thumbs as the other kids raced pass them. Akihiko was next to her swinging his legs. Their teacher was too busy playing with the other kids that she didn't notice the two lonely friends, isolated from everyone else doing nothing. Akihiko stared at Hana and made a small snowball from the ground.

"Do you want to have a snowball fight?" He asked suggestively.

She shook her head. "You can play with them if you want, Aki. I'll probably end up tripping anyway."

"No... I want to be with Hana." He didn't like those other kids anyway. All they ever did was gossip about other students and played mean pranks on each other.

And so, they continued sitting on their lonely bench, staying lonely together.

"I don't get it. So she doesn't want to play, what's wrong with that?" Natsume asked the Ghost.

"You are an idiot. Take a look at what she's holding." The Ghost replied.

Looking closer, he saw Hana holding the picture of the three of them from last night. The one right next to him. He never really noticed it was missing because they ended up waking up late so they rushed to get to their respective places on time.

"Hana never really knew Mikan, Natsume. She lost a mother when she was only a year old. What's worse? She lost her dad, too." The Ghost said. "She never plays with other kids because they either suck up to her because of your position, or they make fun of her because she didn't seem to have any parents around."

"Are you saying I should resign my job?" He asked.

"No, it's your choice. You just have to understand the toll of your actions to everyone around you." The Ghost replied simply smacking the back of his head again. And like before, they were immediately teleported to a different location.

"Argh... Is there no other method of transportation?" He asked angrily.

They were at Ruka's house now. Everybody was there, decorating the whole interior with snowflakes and lights. Anna and Nonoko were in the kitchen making food for the party, and the other boys that couldn't seem to keep still were playing 'Pass-tick-Heat', a game they made up when they were kids where you pick a card and if anybody gets the same number, they flicked you on the forehead and deal again*.

"I hope Natsume comes this year." Sumire said, placing ornaments on the tree with her big belly making it difficult.

"I do, too. But I don't think he will. I mean, this is a pretty rough season for him." Ruka said, cleaning up the toys Akihiko left around.

Natsume's eyebrows formed a crease on his forehead. This was the day. He was so caught up with this whole Ghost of Christmas thing he forgot to go to her grave and visit her.

"What am I doing? Take me back now!" He said to the Ghost.

The Ghost ignored what he was saying and pointed back to where his friends were. They were done with preparing for everything. They were sitting in a circle around a shrine in the living room.

"Hi, Mikan-chan. Merry Christmas. We all really miss you. We hope you're fine up there with your parents. Hana is shaping up to be a really wonderful young lady, and you wouldn't believe how much she looks just like you. We're all doing really well. Sumire and Koko are having a baby, can you believe it?" Sumire was already crying and was being comforted by Koko. "Hotaru isn't here right now because she went to visit Natsume. The two of them are taking it really hard you know," Nobara paused to choke back a sob. "They miss you so much. We miss you so much. We wish you were here with us."

Natsume watched as his friends fell silent one by one, crying and comforting each other. And for a long while, he and the Ghost stood silently, doing nothing.

"We have to go now." The Ghost said as he took his arm and opened a window to a different location.

They were on a hill now. Not just any hill. The hill where her grave stood. Right next to it was a tall mandarin tree. The sun was beginning to set and Hotaru was there placing flowers and cleaning up weeds. She was on her knees and was paying no attention to the dirt sticking on her white dress. As she finished, she started crying.

"Idiot..." She whispered, placing her forehead on the top of the grave. "Why did you have to go?"

Natsume fell to the ground. "Mikan..."

"Hotaru came to your office but you were with me so she assumed you were off doing your own grieving elsewhere." The Ghost explained.

"Why are you showing me this?" Natsume asked.

The Ghost of Christmas Present didn't answer. They stayed on that hill until the sun was completely set and the moon was shining brightly with stars sprawled across the sky.

Natsume didn't notice they were back in his office. He didn't know when they left or how. He didn't realize the Ghost had left. He didn't notice his daughter watching him curled up in a ball on the floor, leaning against the wall with no light source but the moon. He didn't even feel her hugging his back, crying. He didn't remember taking her home and putting her to bed. And he had no idea that Mikan, the only person he ever loved truly, was watching over them with tears in her eyes.

...

Natsume woke up exhausted and tired. His head throbbed and his throat was sore. It was Christmas Day, which meant there was no work today. Since the previous elementary school principal had died, everybody was finally allowed to go home whenever they wanted to and to finally spend time with their families. And maybe that's what he was supposed to do but he was just so tired.

"Natsume..." He heard a voice call. Immediately, his eyes shot open and he sat up straight.

There standing over him him, wearing her ridiculous orange wedding dress, was Mikan. She had her hair let down and it was as long to her waist. Unbelieving, he got out of bed and reached out to her, but then, he immediately retracted it.

"No... no, no, no. You're not her. You're too cruel. Don't... don't do this. Please. I don't think I can take it. I... I know you're the third ghost." He said.

There was a pregnant silence in the room. The Ghost stared sadly down on Natsume. He didn't believe her.

"Natsume, I am the third Ghost of Christmas Future. I am your wife, and I love you," Mikan whispered, taking his hand. "Please believe me."

Natsume stared deeply into her eyes and cupped her cheek. Mikan closed her eyes and felt that hand, the hand that was calloused and scarred from years of work from the previous elementary school principal. It's been way too long.

"Mikan..." He said.

She started crying and then he hugged her tightly with her nose buried on the crook of his neck. He still smelled like burning wood and that indistinct sent that couldn't be described other than Natsume. For what seemed like hours he stood there, with his eyes crusty from sleep and pajamas wrinkled, hugging the love of his life for the first time since she'd been gone.

"Natsume, I'm here to show you the future if you keep dwelling in the past." Mikan said to him. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." He said taking her hand in his.

Mikan opened a time flow window and instantly, they were transported to ten years into the future. Hana was there standing with Akihiko next to her in the middle of a mild blizzard on the hill of her grave, wearing thick black garments. She had grown into a beautiful girl, looking exactly like her mother. She was holding a large bouquet of flowers. Akihiko was holding her hand and supporting her as she fell to the ground in tears.

"Papa, how could you leave me? You were all I had and then you left me! How could you?" She cried. "How could you..."

Natsume's eyes widened. "I'm... I'm dead?"

"...Well, if you hadn't been visited by the three ghosts of Christmas this year, you would have..." Mikan said, not wanting to continue her sentence.

"What?" He asked. Then it hit him. He would have killed himself.

Mikan's hand tightened.

"Mama already left me! Why did you have to go, too? Papa, I'm only sixteen! How am I supposed to live without you?" Hana exclaimed angrily.

Natsume felt a heavy feeling in his chest as he watched his daughter thrash and cry. It was only now that he saw the second grave stone next to his wife's.

_Hyuuga Natsume - Beloved Friend, Father and Uncle_

He saw Akihiko slowly leading Hana back to his car. The blizzard was getting harsher and harsher by the second, and though Hana had the fire Alice, he knew she would be too angry to control it and end up burning down the tall mandarin tree.

"This was the day of your funeral. Hana and Akihiko stayed behind for hours and hours. She couldn't handle it. She couldn't handle losing both her parents." Mikan said ruefully.

Natsume stayed quiet and held onto Mikan's hand for dear life. She opened another window, and it was fast forward to five years later. They were in a hospital somewhere. There was a baby crying loudly, throughout the halls of the ward.

"Hana married Aki and had a baby with him. Right now, she'd just given birth." Mikan explained.

"That's great. But... I don't get it. How am I connected? Isn't it great that she managed to get over my death and move on?" Natsume asked.

"Just watch."

Hana was on her back, red, sweaty and fatigued. He didn't see it at first but he noticed she became extremely thin and fragile. Her cheeks, that were full and rosy, were hollowed out and she had large dark bags under her eyes. Her arms were skinny and pale as she reached out to her son.

"After you died, she suffered from depression. She couldn't eat or sleep, and she spent most of her time locked up in her room." Mikan said.

Natsume's lips formed into a thin line. Hana's eyes were closing and opening droopily. When the doctor was about to give her baby over to her, her hand dropped and everybody started to panic.

"Doctor, I can't get a pulse!" A nurse said.

"What?!" The doctor carefully handed the baby over to Akihiko whose eyes were wide and worried, and immediately prepared to revive the unmoving Hana.

"Come on, let's go." Mikan whispered.

"No. No. What happens? Does she live? Tell me!" Natsume asked frantically.

"No, she dies. Her body was too weak. The doctors say it was even a miracle she managed to support a baby for nine months."

Mikan opened a new window. This time it wasn't too far into the future. Just about three years further. It was a scene with Ruka sitting on the porch of his house, clasping both his hands tightly on his lap as he watched the sunset. He looked much older. He had faint wrinkles under his eyes and gray hairs on every other lock.

"After you died, Ruka-pyon stopped talking." She said. "He never spoke a word if he didn't need to and mostly kept to himself most of the time, going off into his own world. He and Hotaru had some problems because of it and then they had a divorce when Hiro-kun, your grandson, was about two."

Natsume watched his best friend staring into the horizon, unsure of what he was supposed to feel. Ruka smiled sadly as he felt a wave of nostalgia of the past when everything was okay. When nobody was dead, and everybody was happy.

"Natsume, do you love me?" Mikan asked.

"Yes, of course I do." Natsume answered, not hesitating.

"Do you understand that I can never come back, even if I wanted to?"

"...Yes."

"Then please don't let the people who are with you, who love you and support you, turn out this way. I love you. I love you. I love you. And I always will, even when I can't be with you and Hana, I'm there watching you and loving you and missing you." And then she kissed him. She kissed him like she did when they were ten. She kissed him like when they were fifteen, she kissed him like when they were twenty. She kissed him like the way she would for as long as forever.

When they broke apart, Natsume was back in his room and Mikan had disappeared. He felt adrenaline rush through his whole body. He ran to Hana's room and excitedly shook her awake.

"Hana, wake up." He said.

"Papa...?" Hana asked groggily.

"Wake up, Papa's gonna take you out snowballing." He said with a smile.

Hana stared at him curiously. Natsume was usually crap during this period of the year. What happened?

"Um, okay. Just let me change." She said.

"No, no, no. It takes too long. Just put on your coat, quickly now." He said happily.

"Uh... okay. Papa, are you feeling alright?"

"Hana, do you want to hear a secret?" He whispered with a large smile plastered on his face.

"Wha...?"

"I was kissed by an angel last night. We're going to visit her today before we go to Ruka's to ask if they want to play with us." He said.

Hana was seriously sure that her father had officially gone nuts. He carried her all the way to his car then drove up to Mikan's grave. As they walked, Hana had a puzzled look on her face as she had no idea where they were.

"This is where your mother's grave is." Natsume explained. "I never really took you before because I thought it would have made you upset."

Hana's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. She didn't really remember her mother. She would sometimes recall bits and pieces of the day she died through her dreams. Sometimes she even dreamt of times when Mikan was cooking and Natsume would make fun of her then they'd end up having food fights. This was the first time she would ever face her mother's gravestone.

They reached the top and Natsume let go of Hana's hand, placing his palm on top of the stone and said a silent prayer. Hana didn't know what to do so she mimicked her father, placing a hand on the stone and introducing herself.

"Hello, my name is Hyuuga Hana. I'm your daughter. I'm six and a half." She said. Natsume watched her in amusement. "Everybody says that I look just like you, but I don't think so. I saw pictures of you and Mama is just way too pretty to look just like me."

Natsume patted her head and said, "Did you know that Mama is looking down on us right now?"

Hana cocked her eyebrow, looking up to only see the bare branches of the mandarin tree.

He laughed. "You can't really see her, but just know that she loves you so much. And she misses you." He said. "Hey, do you hear that?" He cupped his ear.

Hana did the same and really concentrated on the sounds. "No, what is it?"

"It's Mama."

"But -"

"Shh, shh. She says you've been a very good girl and that she's so proud of you." He said.

"Really?" She said excitedly. "Mama, can you hear me? Good, because you have to hear this. Papa misses you so much. He really, really loves you. I do, too!" She added quickly. "But, Papa has been really working hard and I hope that you can talk to him sometimes so he wouldn't be so lonely."

Natsume smiled down at his daughter and crouched to her level. He kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly.

"Okay, Mama says that she will. Are you ready to go to Auntie and Uncle's?" He asked.

"Yep! Bye, Mama! I hope we could come by again soon to visit you again." She said smiling, taking her father's hand.

The two walked to the car and drove to Ruka and Hotaru's house. The whole gang was inside helping to clean up the aftershock of the party last night when Natsume and Hana knocked on the front door.

"Hyuuga?" Hotaru said as she opened the door to Natsume's less-than-frown expression and a Hana wearing pajamas. "Hana? Why are you wearing your pajamas? Come inside."

"Hey, it's Natsume!" Koko exclaimed.

"Natsume?"

"Papa said that we all should have a snowball fight outside! Come on quickly. Aki bring the Aunties and Uncles outside!" Hana said happily, happier than any of them had seen her.

Akihiko quickly took his parents' hands and led them out side. Everybody dropped what they were holding and went outside. And through the whole day, they played outside happily. Somewhere, Mikan and the other two ghosts smiled as they watched them play with each other. It was the first time in forever that Natsume had actually felt the heat of happiness and satisfaction that died the moment Mikan left.

It was the first time in a long time that he actually felt... nice.

* * *

><p><em>*not sure if real game<em>

_Please tell me if you liked this revised version of A Christmas Carol! It's the book I'm currently reading and I worked really hard on this. Tell me your views and opinions and ideas because I would love to hear from you._

_-Gracielle (Chocolate-Flavored Strawberry)_


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